Weekday Vegetarian!

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btmadison
btmadison Posts: 38 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Wow this TED Talk was great - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7sKMj85hDw - sometimes an idea is so obvious it is totally missed until it is explicitly described.

Weekday vegetarian! Why have I always thought of it as all or nothing and have given up on being vegetarian because the thought of never eating meat again is kinda depressing...

By just eating meat on weekends it makes it much easier to stick to, may lead to further compliance to a total vegetarian diet in the future, and cuts out 70%+ meat consumption, making for a much healthier diet.

As the TED talk shows, factory farming and meat production, transportation, etc... cause much more global damage and warming than all forms of transportation combined!

Another good point made, by cutting out meet for 5 of 7 days, the savings in money can be used to purchase higher quality organic local sustainable sources of meat, thus being healthier and much better for the environment!

So tomorrow I will start this!
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Replies

  • vivo
    vivo Posts: 80
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    I've wanted to start also but I have no idea what recipes to make :(
  • btmadison
    btmadison Posts: 38 Member
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    Yes salads will get old very quick, so better to go into it with some planning, which able being prepared to start preparing a lot of meals (which is the hardest part for me last time i went total vegetarian for a month.)

    There are some good vegetarian / vegan cookbooks such as the vegenomicon. Also I found starting out before, making meals with meat substitutes like tofu or soy products, or seitan / tempeh, which hard core veg say is cheating, made it easier to ease into.

    Definitely I recommend researching and having a plan though as I started out saying, it makes it easier.

    The guy from the TED video has some good links inside this article for some starter recipe ideas and general advice also.

    http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/try-a-weekday-vegetarian-diet-eat-green-food-without-taking-the-plunge.html
  • stephaniekhani
    stephaniekhani Posts: 77 Member
    edited April 2018
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    We started a few weeks ago and I honest to goodness can feel the difference throughout the week. It's trial and error, so find what works for you that makes it sustainable for now. Right now, we're not cutting out dairy or eggs, but that's what works for us. We've certainly had less of them! I've made a lot of veggie frittatas, stir frys, really nice roasted veggie salads with hummus and spinach... I really do love it and surprisingly my husband has been on board the whole way through... so far! Happy to recommend some recipes!

    Also, if anyone is interested in starting a group, I'm in!
  • dns795
    dns795 Posts: 5 Member
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    checking out recipes so I can start! We are big gardeners so this should be easier in a couple months
  • stephaniekhani
    stephaniekhani Posts: 77 Member
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    dns795 wrote: »
    checking out recipes so I can start! We are big gardeners so this should be easier in a couple months

    I'm super jealous! I grow my own herbs and I think I may try my hand at tomatoes this year... but we rent so I can't put anything in the ground. Pots only.
  • stephaniekhani
    stephaniekhani Posts: 77 Member
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    hqbe34d0sci6.jpg

    That's what our week's worth of meals looks like for next week. Planning ahead helps a lot.
  • dns795
    dns795 Posts: 5 Member
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    Yes I need to plan but just got disgusted this morning and on a whim said today is day 1! Thanks for your meal ideas! Here's some none in the ground garden ideas. For spices, don't laugh but mine are actually in my sons old sandbox. My hubs drilled some holes in bottom of the plastic to let water not collect and it works awesome. Also I have done raised gardens with a bottom on the box and same thing just drill holes to let water flow. I am sure a kiddie pool would work too LOL Do you total vegan or do you use cheese and eggs? I have chickens so I am eating eggs and I try to just stay away from actual meats(during week) and focus on low cals. Do you skip breakfast? I do (eek!)
  • stephaniekhani
    stephaniekhani Posts: 77 Member
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    We're definitely still doing dairy and eggs! I think I could probably get rid of eggs and be ok but cheese would be hard for me.

    I don't actually skip breakfast, I just haven't planned on what I'm doing next week. :-)

    It's looking like it's going to get warm again (finally) so I may do smoothies. This week we had an oatmeal bake with bananas, strawberries and blueberries. Very yum!
  • dns795
    dns795 Posts: 5 Member
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    Not doing bad for not prepping. I had salad with chick pea and a boiled egg for dinner. Made an Asian dressing with juice of an orange some ginger root and a little sesame oil. It was very good!
  • AmandaDanceMore
    AmandaDanceMore Posts: 298 Member
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    I am vegan (full time. Not just during the week) and I almost never eat salad. There’s a whole world out there of delicious food that doesn’t include meat, and most things can be made vegetarian pretty easily. Vegan isn’t a whole lot harder, but takes a little practice.

    Anything is better than nothing. Even meatless Monday is a great step! I think it’s a great idea and a nice way to learn how to eat without meat (and/or dairy) without feeling like you’re going all in, full stop.

    And, just for the record, while I would never try and guilt anyone into giving up cheese (especially since it took two years between going vegetarian and finally going all the way to vegan), ditching cheese was WAY easier than I thought it would be. Helps that vegan cheese has come a long way! That being said, I think it is easier to give up when you’re doing it for an ethical reason and not health.
  • stylish11
    stylish11 Posts: 9 Member
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    Amy's and gardein make these things called meals for two. They're vegan/vegeterian and are great for busy weeknights for my husband and i. Plus they use organic vegetables. My husband is full time vegeterian and I am mostly. They're quick skillet meals in a pan in under 10 minutes or so.
  • vallary14
    vallary14 Posts: 215 Member
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    stephaniekhani wrote: »
    hqbe34d0sci6.jpg

    That's what our week's worth of meals looks like for next week. Planning ahead helps a lot.

    I love cottage cheese on my sweet potato too!
  • stephaniekhani
    stephaniekhani Posts: 77 Member
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    vallary14 wrote: »
    stephaniekhani wrote: »
    hqbe34d0sci6.jpg

    That's what our week's worth of meals looks like for next week. Planning ahead helps a lot.

    I love cottage cheese on my sweet potato too!

    I thought maybe I was the only one!!!
  • stephaniekhani
    stephaniekhani Posts: 77 Member
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    AmandaDanceMore wrote: »
    And, just for the record, while I would never try and guilt anyone into giving up cheese (especially since it took two years between going vegetarian and finally going all the way to vegan), ditching cheese was WAY easier than I thought it would be. Helps that vegan cheese has come a long way! That being said, I think it is easier to give up when you’re doing it for an ethical reason and not health.

    I think we'll eventually make the move to cut cheese weekly at some point--cutting the meat was a lot easier than we'd thought.

  • MerryMavis1
    MerryMavis1 Posts: 73 Member
    edited April 2018
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    Like this idea (in the past I've experimented with vegetarian/Nutritarian etc), so I think I'll give it a whirl :) Need to shake things up now that spring is finally here and I'm coming out of hibernation lol.

    Picked up some produce this morning, along with tomato basil flat-bread and just made a 2 whole egg/3 white scramble with sauteed mushrooms and onions, and put it on the flat bread with lettuce, tomato and sour cream (with a few dashes of hot sauce). Not going to cut out eggs or dairy (our eggs are locally sourced from pet chickens), but I am going to cut back a bit, especially on cheese-so good but such a calorie bomb!
  • LZMiner
    LZMiner Posts: 300 Member
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    Great concept...and probably pretty easy to put into practice. I feel like Americans have been brainwashed to plan meals around the meat---
  • srpm
    srpm Posts: 275 Member
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    Check out lighter.world for recipes. They let you put in what ingredients you want to avoid, what equipment you have in your kitchen and how much time you want to devote to meal prep. The more foods you want to avoid obviously limits your recipe results but it is great for getting started.
  • stephaniekhani
    stephaniekhani Posts: 77 Member
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    srpm wrote: »
    Check out lighter.world for recipes. They let you put in what ingredients you want to avoid, what equipment you have in your kitchen and how much time you want to devote to meal prep. The more foods you want to avoid obviously limits your recipe results but it is great for getting started.

    Thanks for the tip!
  • tracybear86
    tracybear86 Posts: 163 Member
    edited April 2018
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    This website is my go to. She has tons of plant based recipes. Most of them are 10 indgredients or less and take 30 minutes or less to make. :)

    https://minimalistbaker.com/
  • stephaniekhani
    stephaniekhani Posts: 77 Member
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    tracybear86 wrote: »
    This website is my go to. She has tons of plant based recipes. Most of them are 10 indgredients or less and take 30 minutes or less to make. :)

    https://minimalistbaker.com/

    OMG I love Minimalist Baker! Have you tried Love and Lemons?

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